


Somewhere, One day

by Leiz



Series: Rebel Fire [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bonding, Comfort/Angst, First Meetings, Memories, Pidge and Keith have a heart to heart about Matt, Siblings, or do they, rebel fire, set around season 1-2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-17 01:15:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14822433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leiz/pseuds/Leiz
Summary: “My brother… Do you know him ?”It really wasn’t something Keith would have expected to hear in the middle of the night (or whatever conception of night they had, considering they were in space and all). But well… Here they were.





	Somewhere, One day

**Author's Note:**

> A much needed conversation between Pidge and Keith. Also, Matt is a Meme.

 

“My brother… Do you know him ?”

It really wasn’t something Keith would have expected to hear in the middle of the night (or whatever conception of night they had, considering they were in space and all). But well… Here they were.

 

-

 

As he was so often prone to, on unfortunately not so rare sleepless nights, Keith had gotten out of bed, planning to just get some water and maybe go train or meditate or anything really if sleep decided to not visit him that night. Again. But what he found on his way back from the kitchen, instead of what would usually be silent, dark corridors, was a small bundled form out on the bridge of the ship. A shivering, clearly sobbing form. He hadn’t expected to find Pidge out there, wrapped in her blanket as she contemplated the infinite lines of stars. It was such a private and personal moment, that Keith, not unsurprisingly didn’t know how to react. Should he even react ? If she was there at such hours while everyone else was supposedly sleeping, then it most certainly meant that this scene wasn’t for anyone to witness. And so, Keith backtracked silently to the kitchen, to go grab two water pouches.

All of them had their moments, he was well aware. It was in the slightly overly bright smiles of Hunk when he suddenly remembered trivial things from Earth, it was in Allura’s shinier eyes and the pause in her words when she thought of Altea, in Coran’s heavier sighs and the tired lines of his face, in Lance’s dropping shoulders and trembling voice when he missed his family, and in the tight lines around Shiro’s eyes, the stiff reactions when he disconnected with the present. Really. They all had their darker, more sensitive moments. He knew he had those, too. He also knew, that it was intimate, and something only for him to know. So maybe, not reacting, and letting Pidge have her space was what was best. Besides, Keith wasn’t exactly well versed in… Social, or human interactions. He might say one word wrong and make it all worse. So, yeah, maybe not a good idea, this whole “comfort your comrade” thing. But he also felt that leaving her alone, vulnerable and… Cold… Was wrong too. And goddamn it, it was way too late for internal battles and dilemmas.

Unknowingly, he had already made his way back to where he had found Pidge wrapped in her blanket. A sniffle cut him out of his daze. Keith looked up to see the blanket move as she pulled it tighter around her. Surprisingly she spoke and cut right through his existential crisis of “should I or should I not…”. Pidge had turned her face, calling his name, big hazel eyes drowning in clear tears that she had tried, as well as she could, to erase from view. Couldn’t fool him, though, for they both knew she had been crying, and Keith had excellent sight anyways. He’d voiced his mild surprise that she even knew he was there, all the while slowly walking toward her. She simply shrugged, gaze slightly down, absently looking at her feet, covered in soft lion slippers, shuffling in front of her.

“You’ve been standing there for a while so…”

He passed her a small water pouch which she quietly accepted with a nod of her head, and sat next to her, forearms on his bent knees, as he observed the passing stars. Keith heard the small sound of the straw poking through the pouch. He didn’t initiate any conversation, and somehow felt that maybe he didn’t need to. Maybe all Pidge needed was a companion in the vastness of space. They spent long minutes in amicable silence, both with thoughts lost in the sea of stars. And after a while, and after tears no longer rolled on her round cheeks, he heard the rustle of fabric against skin, and her small voice.

“Matt… My brother… Do you know him ?”

Keith looked at her. He certainly did not see that coming. Honestly, he wouldn’t have thought that this would be the subject Pidge would choose to bring up but, well. It also kind of made a lot of sense. Seeing his puzzlement at the question, she felt the need to elaborate.

“Since you were at the Garrison, before Kerberos… And also, since you knew Shiro, I figured that maybe…”

She trailed off, eyes cast down while she rubbed a bit more at her cheeks, wiping the tear marks off, and readjusting her glasses. Keith turned back to the view in front of them.

“Yeah… I know him. We met through Shiro actually.”

Pidge’s eyes widened slightly in a sign of interest, and probably… Any information, or stories about her family might have been what she needed right then. Something to talk about, and someone to reminisce with. She probably thought that this type of conversations might be delicate with Shiro though Keith knew they did talk about Commander Holt and Matt (Shiro told him about it), there was no betraying that haunted and tired look on Shiro’s face when he thought of all that happened after their departure for Kerberos… So, Keith understood why Pidge chose not to bring it up too often… And if she needed someone to talk about her brother with, then Keith could be that person. Even though he didn’t think he had a lot to say, it would still be a bit of something for Pidge. Speaking of which, and thinking back on it…

“Ah… I actually first met Matt when I sneaked out of the dorm, and was trying to sneak back in.”

Pidge’s eyebrows rose in surprise and amusement.

“You did ?”

“Uh, yeah… Quite often actually. But uh, don’t tell Shiro, not that he doesn’t know I did but…”

He heard Pidge chuckle as she promised she wouldn’t, and yeah.. He had gotten some earful on the times Shiro caught him or found out, but Shiro didn’t know how often it had happened and what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

“I was climbing one of the outer walls back to the dorm, one on the east wing was a little easier in access from the roofs… But that’s also where your brother apparently liked to go stargazing, on said roofs… “

“No way… “ Pidge muffled a laugh with her left hand “Don’t tell me he screeched like a banshee when he saw you and you fell ?”

“Uh, no, no falling from the wall, I actually was jumping down, and _then_ , there was screeching…”

Pidge cracked up, laughing aloud, the pouch in her hand shaking with her whole body. And Keith couldn’t blame her as he continued to tell.

 

As first meetings go, this one was a particular scene in itself. He remembered freezing up while on his way down from the wall, hearing a shrill yelp quickly followed with a copious amount of swearing. They had both fallen backwards, Matt from shock at, and in his words: “not expecting to have a view on someone’s glorious ass when he took out his telescope”, and Keith from the other’s screams, consequently banging his head against the wall. Then, they had both heard distinct footsteps coming toward them. Needless to say, Keith had jumped back up in alarm, planting a firm hand on the older boy’s mouth because getting caught hadn’t been in his plans of the evening. They had managed to hide (uncoordinated bodies and limbs, as well as Matt’s equipment) just in time before a guard spotted them, and parted ways quickly after, too relieved and out of it to even exchange names or proper greetings. It wouldn’t be until weeks later that Shiro would introduce Matt as one of his colleagues on the upcoming mission to Kerberos that was, back then, scheduled a bit under a year later.

It wasn’t that they were completely unaware of one another, they knew of each other. Matthew Holt was known for his outstanding intellect, a genius even by Garrison standards, and for being assigned to the Kerberos mission despite his young age. Keith Kogane was what they called a star pilot, one of a calibre rarely seen in the last decade, ever since Takashi Shirogane. (And even then, while young Shirogane was an overall perfect individual on all fronts, Keith’s instincts and aptitudes regarding piloting were promising enough that he exceeded even those expectations placed on him) So yes, they did know of each other, but neither was really invested in Garrison gossip, and they never really met face to face until that night. Both of their reactions to each other had been quite awkward, as to be expected.

“-And then he went and said ‘Ohmygosh you’re the stranger with the glorious a- I mean, nice to meet you ?‘ in front of Shiro… You should have seen their faces.”

Keith sniggered as he narrated.

“That’s so awfully Matt, I can even hear his screams in my ears ohmygod”

Pidge wheezed and Keith laughed alongside her.

As the time went, fleeting memories slowly resurfaced from the back of his mind. Things even Keith had forgotten. Things from much simpler times… So he continued to tell Pidge short anecdotes about her brother, and their short time together before the Kerberos mission. He initially didn’t think he had much to tell her, and yet, words kept coming.

“There was that one time he decided to paint ping pong balls into planets, and got me into it because he suddenly remembered that he couldn’t “art for shit”...”

Both Pidge, as he told her, and Keith knew that this was a lie though. Funnily enough, and Keith had discovered later, Matt was actually quite good at drawing and painting. Keith had found a small notebook full of sketches. Roughly drawn, most of them were linked to his studies, scribbles here and there, messy handwriting and used paper… But a few others… Depicted different landscapes and people, maybe from travels, or just to give his mind a break from his researches. Keith himself used to doodle things when he needed to stop thinking too much, and couldn’t go train or go for a ride. So yeah. Basically, Matt knew how to paint and just wanted to have an accomplice or someone to throw the blame onto if he was caught picking up ping pong balls to turn into a makeshift solar system. Why ping pong balls, when all of these planets were of different sizes ? Well, no one ever knew.

“It was supposed to be some sort of decorative thing that he wanted to hang around in his dorm room…”

“Supposed to…” Pidge smirked knowingly.

“Turned out to be a… Ping pong balls planets fight in the middle of the night.”

“I am honestly not surprised. I mean, seriously ? This couldn’t have ended any other way.” Pidge chuckled as she bit on the straw of her water pouch. If the thought of Matt and Keith being friends felt down right weird and impossible before, now she could totally picture them together. Or rather, her brother pestering Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes as he took a sip of water, a small smile still on his lips.

It was right when Matt had shouted “GET URANUS OUT OF MY FACE” that Shiro had opened the door of the room, frozen at the sight of the two younger boys, Keith actively shoving what most likely must have been a poor unfinished version of Uranus, ping pong ball sized, into Matt’s face to shut him up. Clearly, that hadn’t worked. Shiro had just wanted to discuss some things with Matt (he knew all too well that Matthew Holt never slept at that hour), documents neatly arranged under his arm. He hadn’t expected the sight that had greeted him, standing all awkward and unbelieving in front of Keith and Matt with faces and clothes full of paint, the room looking like it had hosted a paintball fight. Well.. Close enough, anyways.

“I bet Shiro wasn’t pleased”

“He wasn’t… Even more so because he ended up getting a face full of freshly painted ping pong balls and had to explain to Iverson why he had some abstract painting of the earth amongst over stains on his uniform.”

Pidge exploded in laughter, grabbing her stomach at the mere thought of picturing Shiro, standing awkwardly in front of Iverson’s judging stare, with paint all over his uniform. Takashi Shirogane was a legend of sort at the Garrison, but to think her brother and Keith brought that legend to another level was just amazing.

After some long suffering minutes of just trying to get air back into her lungs, Pidge had finally calmed down, this time, taking off her glasses to wipe tears of laughter with the back of her sleeve. She voiced after a time, turning back to Keith.

“Shiro and you are really close, I mean you always looked close but…”

Keith nodded, they hadn’t particularly talked about how Shiro and he knew each other before… Well, before all the mess with Voltron, there wasn’t really a time and place to speak of this sort of thing.

“Shiro’s been around, well, almost since forever. I was a kid the first time we met. He’s… Like a brother to me.”

Which is why he understood all too well, Pidge’s desperation and drive to search for her family. For Keith… Shiro was the only family he had left. Or at least, the only one he knew and considered family.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mention Matt to you earlier …”

Pidge blinked next to him. Keith was running a hand in his hair, gaze lost far in front of them. His voice was much quieter.

“I wasn’t sure it was my place to say anything… And I had no information on his whereabouts… I thought we’d find him with Shiro.”

She looked calmly at Keith, and nodded, almost to herself. No resentment, and no judgement colouring her face.

“It would have been weird to bring up all of a sudden. Thanks for telling me those stories about my brother though.”

She laughed, probably thinking about how Matt’s antics were both unbelievable and just so… _Matt_ , not to be true. And quietly her chuckles faded, leaving a troubled expression in their wake.

“I just… Wish we could have found him too. My father, and my brother are out there… I just… Want them back.”

The water pouch long forgotten at her side, she coiled her arms around her knees tighter. Looking absently at the distant stars, chin resting on her forearms. Keith watched her, an image so familiar and so singular all at once. She turned her gaze back on him as he rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, his eyes full of silent support and certainty.

“You will find them, Pidge. I know you will.”

They exchanged small smiles, hers that bit more sympathetic and hopeful.

“Thanks, Keith.”

 

-

 

They went back to their respective rooms after some time. When the time to start their day and save the universe came, they both acted as nothing happened. Though they could not quite escape Shiro’s knowing smiles and pats on their shoulders.

If those unplanned hangouts of sharing stories and silences in the middle of whatever conception of night they had happened more than once afterwards, neither of them ever mentioned a thing.

 

 


End file.
